Shirley May is an acclaimed poet, writer and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of literature. She is also CEO and Artistic Director of Young Identity, Manchester's premier spoken word collective in the UK. In 2006, Shirley founded the Inner Voice, a voluntary Youth Arts Project that 16 dedicated years later, has become Young Identity, a literature and performance arts charity. Young Identity now has the prestigious status of being a national portfolio organisation with the UK Arts Council. In other words, Young Identity is recognized as a leader both in their field and in our collective national arts. Shirley's work is described as "blazing with emotion, challenging all the senses." We talk about her work responding to pain and pride in the experience of migration, her Jamaican heritage and in African history. We start with how one day "she woke up with a poem in her mouth," how "the word was first" and developing the "risk of excellence," in marginalised youth today. Young Identity is important legacy work that talks to truth.

This episode first featured in Season 3 (Speak Your Excellence). As part of the Windrush 75 commemorations and celebrations, Season 4 includes this episode again and it is also complimented with an additional short interview with Shirley May. This is listed in Season 4 as 'Still Dancing - Windrush 75,' in which Shirley talks specifically about the experience of her parents leaving Jamaica for Britain, including experiences not previously published in her book, "She Wrote Her Own Eulogy." Her parents came in response to the call to help rebuild Britain post WWII and she talks about why the Windrush 75 Anniversary and events are so important in response to both legacy and scandal. (More links below).

Season 4 features 7 Windrush specific interviews with world class and award winning artists, just look for titles with 'Windrush 75.'

You can hear more from the Young Identity poets in Season 3 too, who also share Caribbean and African heritage. See Season 3 listings:

Series Audio Editor - Courtesy of Joey Quan.

Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb

Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. News and read only, text versions of every interview can also be found here: www.canartsaveus.com

Discover Shirley May here:

www.youngidentity.org/                                 

www.shirleyannemay.co.uk/

Find out more about #Justice4Windrush www.justice4windrush.org/

I’m raising the first national and international conversation to explore courage and curiosity and why it makes a big difference to our mental, societal and democratic health. Scroll down for all episodes. I’m grateful to all of my guests for taking part and to share my reviews below.

I talk to award-winning, diverse, national and international artists about the role of courage and curiosity in their lives. What do these qualities really mean and why do they matter to our mental, societal and democratic health?

Be inspired, we talk hip-hop poetry, Islamic architecture building peace, tap dance in protest, surrealism and WWII, life as a drag King, war, displacement and Syrian music, the Art School for the Homeless, the 1970s West Indian Front Room, inclusive dance and wheelchair acrobatics, British-Pakistani, Black-British, Jewish, and Irish spoken word artists, giant talking ceramics, film and end of life, graffiti art and Muslim faith, shamanic storytelling, a Cameroonian clay addict, a world leading sculptor and icons of Justice, voices of Windrush in arts activism, prison art, Chilean, Indonesian, Ugandan art, nuns and number one albums, and much, much more. I hope you'll join us!